Pam Arifian, my colleague and Director of the Northeast Environmental Justice Center of the United Church of Christ, brought to my attention last week that People’s Climate Movement is trying to spark 100 vigils in the first 100 hours of the new administration to draw attention to the climate crisis so many of our elected officials are hoping to ignore (or, worse, deny). GreenFaith is helping interfaith groups organize a program that is nonpartisan and rooted in faith. Peaceful, faithful protest.

Something clicked in my head, and I volunteered.

She and I were able to pull together representatives from a number of local faith organizations, and we are putting on not one, but two vigils over inauguration weekend.

The first will be Friday, Jan. 20, from 6-8 p.m. in the center of Amenia, outside Four Brothers restaurant.

The second will be Sunday, Jan. 22, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the lawn of The White Hart inn in Salisbury.

I am really heartened by the enthusiastic response I’ve received from our faith communities. It gives me hope when a bunch of very diverse people from very different backgrounds can come together on an issue that should never have been politicized in the first place. Climate change is real, man-made, and something we can address through level-headed government policy.